


A Monster Amongst Monsters

by Maedelin



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-01-15 02:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21245672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maedelin/pseuds/Maedelin
Summary: Set in the Age of X Series.  In those early days of their desperate fight to remain free, some wonder if the fight is even worth it, when even amongst the wretched and despised, they're set apart.Spoilers: None I suppose. Go read Age of X! I'm sure that'd help! I did take some liberties with a few people's background stories so please don't string me up too aggressively for it.Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, they belong to Marvel or Disney or both. I dunno, I forget at this point. I just know they're not mine, and I'm writing this for freesies and to recommend that people check out the Age of X run!Also, I am so glad to be posting! It has been so long since I have written a fanfic, but this one popped into my head and refused to let go!





	1. Chapter 1

Day 79:

Monsters don't deserve love, and they don't ask for it. They take what they're given.

Legacy – and she would call herself that, until the day she died – walked the silent halls of their citadel, the hour somewhere between obscenely late and obscenely early. She couldn't sleep. That was a problem for her more and more often. Too many memories collided merged, and melted together, or attempted to subsume another. All too often Legacy felt like a referee in a particularly violent soccer match, except every player was an irate hooligan. With super powers.

And so, on the nights where she could not find any solace or respite Legacy would wander the halls, avoiding the others of their fortress with a deftness that was afforded her by Kurt and all the training he had experienced in his brief life. Of all the people that were now within in her head instead of the flesh, she missed Kurt the most. Raven had birthed the child, given him up for a short while before returning to him for fear of his safety, and raised him with her lover, Destiny, until the older woman's unfortunate, but foreseen death at the hands of Arcade in his sick prison.

Eventually, in the chaos of the early days of anti-mutant hysteria, Mystique found and raised an abandoned Anna Marie before being separated and sent to jail for a brief stint. Alone, the siblings had survived by staying together, and eventually reunited with their mother in this last bastion for mutants before she too was taken by the first and only Avengers. Anna Marie hadn't been able to imprint either of her foster mothers' before they died, and the shame of it cut deeper than all but the grief of losing her brother. They could have remained a family, all within her, but fate had taken even that solace from her!

The shame and pain of her lost family was almost stronger than the hate that seethed within her.

This hate wasn't just her own. Her powers were as wild and uncontrollable as a forest fire, and twice as dangerous. It was the hate and fear that nearly each person felt as their lives, their memories, their souls leeched out of them and into her. Even those who wanted it, they all eventually came to the same conclusion within her. That this procedure was abhorrent, an abomination, no matter the grandiose spin their General Magnus gave it. That her name Reaper was too kind. There were stronger, uglier names that could be used against her, that were more appropriate, and –

"Anna. It is late." The gentle banality of the words gave way to an easy interpretation of what he really meant. Magnus was one of the few who would approach Legacy, much less keep her quarters close to him.

To think of him is to summon him. A thought came from a corner of Legacy's mind, flitting away before she could tag exactly who it came from. Taking full control of herself, of shoving the personae of so many deeper within, was always a difficult endeavor. For this man however, she always wanted to be herself. "General," she said quietly – monsters did not speak firmly to their betters – and she turned to face him, though reluctance showed in every line as she kept her gaze to the ground and her shoulders rounded. Clad as always in white armor and cape, he looked the part he had assumed long before now: The Savior of Mutantkind. She in her dark cloak and hood also was the exact opposite. Where he was the symbol of beginnings and hope for their species, she was very much their end.

"Anna," Magnus said, his expression and voice changing, gentling. "It is unbecoming of one so important to our cause to debase herself with such a downcast expression." Anna's shoulders shifted in a knee-jerk reaction. Any contact – physical, or just conversational – did that to her, especially those she did not initiate and were unexpected. She was tainted, the reminder of the grim reality of their lives.

"Couldn't sleep," the laconic reply was barely above a whisper. Still she would not meet his gaze! Each response, her ashamed demeanor, and even the fact that she was ghosting these halls like an unwelcome revenant infuriated Magneto to a level that he had not felt since he removed the skyscrapers from the city of Manhattan to make this citadel. That fury was boiling within him, threatening to overwhelm him.

No. This was not the time of place for righteous wrath. Magnus placed his hands, his touch gentle, but her shoulders flinched as if receiving a blow. For a long, nearly endless minute did he refrain from pursuing any other action. He wanted to though. He so very badly wanted to. The lights flickered, playing her into browning sepia to the chiaroscuro of the natural light outside heightened by the protective barrier the Force Warriors wove every day.

Not. Now. He stayed in this position, and continued to remain as he was until she eventually lifted her head and looked at him. What he saw in her eyes, what he always saw there, was a mix of her own fear and loathing. That was always the first emotions anyone could see, if they looked hard enough, though few did. But, with every time he found his gaze stroking her body, he could see something else. When looking at Anna Marie, he could nearly see the ones she had absorbed within, looking out at him. Judging him, and wondering why he hadn't done better at protecting them. It was all too familiar of times that he thought were long buried, long past.

The moment passed, and Anna was Anna once more, without a stranger looking out of her eyes. A strange light passed over them from the windows set within the hall. There was a wave of pure white, following a fracture and a colorful array of lights that threw all colors before flashing back into the pearlescent white. The Force Warriors had reached this quadrant of the walls, rebuilding what the humans, the flatscans had undone. What could not be undone though was what Magnus could see. As the lights gathered their strength and returned to their full glow, the shadows of pain Legacy went through, and did to herself was still apparent, though Magnus decided that he indeed was the only other person in this citadel that could even see it. His rage was stoked anew. It was unnecessary, fully unworthy of one so important to their cause. To him.

The light had returned to normal. Anna had returned to normal. But within those moments he had revealed to himself something...surprising. Not normal. It left him feeling confused and vulnerable, emotions he had not felt in a long while.

One hand traveled up cupping her chin, even as she began to tremble. His flinty blue eyes captured and held her green. "Anna...do not fool yourself into thinking you are unimportant. That you mean little to anyone, to our cause." This was not the smartest way to inspire her. He could see her confusion, read the jumbled emotions that played across her face. Did she really think that she was that inconspicuous? That no one would ever notice?

Well, perhaps they didn't. She, however, did not deserve to be. "Without you, they would have so much more to fear. They would have so much more to lose." He paused, he believed his words, but knew that she was wavering in her own decision and decided to forge forward. Tomorrow, death surely waited for them all. Tonight, it was silent. It was peaceful. With a startling moment of clarity, he knew that his dream, his need to protect mutantkind would be hollow and unimportant, unless he savored the victories earned for more than just the value of defeating an enemy.

"I would lose as well. More than they, worse than they." Very carefully, he ghosted his gauntleted thumb over her lower lip, and then abruptly released her. Shaken as badly as she and wondering why he had said so much and done more, Magnus rounded on one heel and stalked off down the corridor. Anna Marie stood there, watching him go until his form was swallowed by the shadows. If her mind had been a whirlwind of activity before, it was now a raging tempest, a swirling tornado. When it would settle and what she would be able to think about were concepts she could not even begin to contemplate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A negotiation. Youth on display. Anger and tension, but in it, new ideas.

Day 83  
“We need to keep this brief, Magnus; my people are fighting down there and potentially dying.” Dani was ever succinct; she did not allow herself to sit; merely opting to stand. Clearly, she wanted to be back in the middle of battle and was unwilling to wait on propriety.  
“We’ve all got people down there fighting,” Guthrie said as he did take a seat. Magnus followed and gruffly, reluctantly, Dani did as well. “We’re glad you took the time to talk to us; we think the current set up of teams isn’t sufficient.”

“Yes,” Dani said and with no further preamble, she laid out the concerns the ground forces listed. There were many. While there had been no casualties in over twelve days, planning on successes was no way to win a war this desperate.  
“Very well,” Magnus said once both had made their concerns known. “I give you two the right to create your own battalions in the power structure you showed me. Your decision on leaders was well thought,” he said as the two rose to leave. The song of battle had reached them, and as the meeting wore on, the two young mutants seemed more and more eager to return to the fight. He felt they needed to be reminded that their brains were their greatest asset, not their kill count. “Go and assemble your ranks, you have my full blessing.”  
As they left, he could hear the two bickering over who would entice some of the people not assigned to groups yet. But, then one acidic comment came to his attention. “We’ll keep Logan on drink duty,” Guthrie said archly, to which Dani laughed. “All he’s good for anyway now that he’s nearly flatscan.” The rest of the conversation drifted into the distance as Magnus sat back in his chair, ruminating on the behaviors of the two. While businesslike and professional, they were still too young to take on the mantle that Magnus now wore. Age would temper them, unless death did first.  
Logan’s issues were known to all but obfuscated in whispered stories. He seemed content to let no one know the truth, though it left him in a strange position in rank. What was he now, if he could not exercise his powers? A mutant, Magnus thought firmly to himself. He would not mince words, or split hairs. Logan was the Wolverine, then and always. He would have to do his best to make certain the denizens –  
“General Magnus,” a calm, computerized voice chimed. “We have successfully thwarted the western wall’s attack. North and east are still in works for containment. Basilisk reports twelve injured, and one with life-threatening wounds. Cypher estimates 70% chance of survival.”

“Very good, X.” Magnus said, his mind half on the robot’s report; something on the eastern front’s field caught his eye. There was someone in a long, black cloak moving from shadowed overhang to behind a towering pile of debris. Her moves were quick and subtle, either of her own learning, of what she had gleaned of others. His pulse quickened; why was the girl on the field? He thought he had been clear the night the Avengers died. The humans were unaware of her abilities; to allow them sight of her, to see that her powers are varied and, frankly, of other mutants, would send them into a panic. Fearing the mutants were evolving or considered dangerously unpredictable would be their demise. Nothing would be worse than humans who were at the brink of their sanity.  
He melted the metal that was the wall of the citadel, allowing himself to pass through it before returning the wall to a smooth sheet of steel. He flew to her position, she hadn’t seen his arrival, and when his powers gripped the metal that she wore, holding her in place, she froze more effectively than his ability ever could.  
“We have spoken of this, Rogue,” Magnus said, his voice deceptively calm. He wanted to rage and rail at her, for thinking that she could defy his orders, that she would put herself on the field as if she were only a common soldier. “You are not to engage unless directly ordered.”  
“They called for backup, General,” she spat, a fire in her eyes she hadn’t expected. “Things were goin’ bad, an’ I didn’t expose myself. See?” she asked as she tried – and he allowed – her to lift her hand. In it was the gun that Rogers himself used. “Flatscan tech, an-” she broke off as the pistol left her fingers, clattering noiselessly as Cannonball rocketed overhead in a whoosh of plasma.  
“Directly ordered,” he said, maintaining his calm, “means that I will order you to the field myself. Not before, not by another, by me.” Magnus had not realized that he had closed the gap between them, and they were now standing close to one another. 

Too close. To back away now would be to show weakness. He had to continue as he began. “You are beyond the rank and file, now. Your duty to our brethren extends beyond the fight here. You are not a living wall to break against,” He wanted to reach out, and touch her hair, or cup her cheek, and let her know that is not her job to stand and support him. In fact, it very much the reverse. “You are going to be our pillar.”  
Rogue’s eyes were confused, and he released the metal she wore, allowing her to stand on her own. As her heels touched the ground completely, she found herself staring at her toes. The immediate area was silent, or as silent is perceived after a battle raged through the area. The fighting continued, elsewhere, but it seemed to have grown dim and distant.  
“I don’t understand what you mean,” Rogue said slowly, her accent – moments before thick and strong – returning to its usual lilt.  
“You will,” he promised and offered his hand to her. “Will you trust me long enough to see it?” the nod she gave him filled him with hope. With the battle elsewhere, and X reporting over their comms that the humans were beginning to retreat they could return to the citadel. “Trust means obeying, Rogue. You must believe me, all I do is to preserve our people, and protect…” he trailed off, the weakness within him unable to voice all that he wanted.  
The hand she slid into his was small in comparison, and he took the advantage to draw her through that last space until their bodies were so close that he was certain he could feel her body heat, even through the protective layers they wore. “Help me save our people, Anna Marie,” he said, his voice barely audible.  
Too close. They were far, far, far too close. “Of course.” She said, hardly thinking. “I wil-”  
He kissed her, suddenly. Hungry, angrily, pouring his passion of the moment and her out as he did so. Too shocked to act, too new to kissing and far too flustered, Anna Marie didn’t kiss him back immediately. Just as she tried to rally and return his gesture, she felt the pull of her powers and in a blind reaction, shoved against him, intent on breaking the kiss and turning away.  
Strong arms kept her from the latter. “No.” he said simply, standing erect, and hardly affected. The same could not be said of her. She felt weak and overwhelmed by him, half supported by his arms. His powers, his memories were within her, faint but noticeable. She could see how he felt about her – as if that kiss wasn’t enough.  
“I do not fear your powers, I do not fear you. Do not be afraid.”  
Magnus pulled her in close, and trapped in his arms, she could do little else but try and mount a final defense. “We-we can’t be without you; you can’t th-throw it all away on a m…on a danger like me.” She said, practically blurting out the truth before snatching it back. “You’re t-too important,” Anna Marie protested as he drew her in again. Her hands were on his chest, but she didn’t push him away. Her fingers were tense, and taut against the armor.  
“Do you not want this, Anna Marie?” his voice was mild, calm, and without any inflection. He did not want to pressure her into this, if she did not want it. If she did, however…  
“You said it yourself!” she retorted, finally looking him in the eyes again. “It’s too important to – ”  
“Too important to risk your life, yes. But you are not dangerous. You are not unimportant. You are everything.” His thumb caressed the side of her face, and when the tears that were threatening to spill over did, he could almost imagine the cool feeling of tears against the flush of her cheeks. He could not help it. His head dipped and he brushed his lips across hers, before letting them separate enough to leave the area. “Come,” he said as he drew her along, and no amount of language can explain the relief he felt when she obeyed, and came with him. He had taken a step towards his goals, his desires, and relief filled him. He would share them with her. After all, it was only appropriate.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A battle. A mourning. Anger and grief.

Day 84  
Before the day broke, the wall did. The preaks had tried a new idea; and the attacks began in earnest, under a sky barely erased of stars. Dazzler was the “spotlight” and the cacophony of the fight kept the sky exploding in every color imaginable. A stranger, lovelier, more frightening battle was never seen.  
Those who saw it, that was. “X,” Rogue said, winding a piece of looped string in her hand over and over. “Battle report,” She folded and twisted it into various shapes, without looking. Someone in her mind, maybe her, maybe not, enjoyed playing cat’s cradle when they were nervous.  
“As of 29 seconds, when you last called for an update,” X’s voice chimed neutrally. “The battle goes well. All life force is above projected loss parameters.”  
“Thank you,” she replied perfunctorily. Another twist, a bend of a finger, and the thread was now in the shape of a broom. She let it collapse, and sighed. “X?”  
“The battle goes well, Rogue. May I suggest an activity?”  
Rogue sighed and shook her head. “No, X. Thanks. I’m just antsy.”

“It is noticeable. Your blood pressure has spiked since the battle began.”

“Yeah, thanks for that too. Yanno it’s creepy that you keep tabs on me like this?”  
“The General made the request, Rogue. I do not defy him.”  
There was long pause of silence, as Rogue tried to listen to the sounds outside. She was on the wrong side of the citadel, and only silence reigned.

Thus it was that ten minutes later X’s voice was a complete shock, and she almost fell off the chair she was perched on. “Rogue, you are being requested. North wall, the battle is over, there are no flatscans-” before X could finish her sentence, Rogue was off, running towards the battle. She knew what it meant that she was summoned. As she raced through the halls, she saw two people flying directly to her; Storm and Namor, the uncrowned king and queen of the waters. Wordlessly, they saw she knew, and with Storm’s power, she was lifted by the winds and taken quickly to the site.  
It took less than two minutes to race to the battlefield. Magnus was specific in his explanations the night before. He feared the flatscans may try to observe them, to mark the important from the unimportant, from the powerful to the weak. He wanted her to be a cypher to them; one of the few mutants that were not on file by the government, all she was to them was a name and a (now stricken) social security number. To be completely unaware of her powers would be the one thing they could use if the fighting truly went bad.  
Anna Marie got to the battleground and saw the unlucky soul. Forge was lying on his side, breathing shallowly. There was so much blood around him that Rogue could see a twisted reflection of the puffy clouds above. Sickened, she walked on and knelt in his blood, smoothing his hair back from one sticky cheek.  
He turned his head slightly, the light in his eyes fading rapidly. “Ah’m sorry,” she said, gently, and as lovingly as she could to him. “Ah’m sorry I can’t do more. I’m sorry…” she whispered as her bared palm pressed against the cleared spot on his face. She felt him slowly ebb into her, more like a beach having small waves flutter against it. He must be near death if the taking was so gentle and weak. Rogue closed her eyes and did her best to think hard about a place for him within her. She needed to preserve him, he deserved the memorial just as much as the next person, no matter how little of his life she could retain.  
It was over too soon; and it was horrible for every second. Namor offered a hand for her to rise with, though he seemed to rethink that as soon as he did it. Rogue caught the look and shook her head with a small smile. “I’m alright,” she said, lying through her teeth. “Thanks though,”

Namor didn’t seem relieved by her rescue from a potential conversational faux pas. “We are not done,” he said and pointed further down the field. Others were around something, possibly on the ground and Rogue nodded and walked swiftly on legs that wanted to buckle.  
She knelt with a tear-streaked face of a mutant she didn’t know, but after a few moments of clasping the mutant’s hand in hers, she did. Janos Quested, a mutant who had never been understood, a mutant hardly loved, and easily forgotten. All but me. All but us. She thought to herself as she rose, this time with Namor’s support. As she got to her feet, her knees chose that moment to fail her. If it had not been for Namor’s hand, she would have collapsed in a heap.  
“She cannot continue,” Storm said, her eyes flashing with worry and concern. “My love, we must speak to the General on her behalf.”

“It is not for us to countermand his order, beloved.” Namor said as Rogue took his hand. He helped her to her feet but as soon as she was able to stand independently and walk steadily, he released her. Rogue knelt next to Jeanne-Marie, her heart twisting to see the woman who had accepted her in this battle-torn place with her light dimming. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair!  
“Aurora,” she managed to make out, the tears she did have spilling over and falling onto Jeanne-Marie’s face. It stirred her long enough to sigh sadly. 

“And here I was hoping he would be a little faster…” her voice was weak, and wistful with its gentle French-Canadian accent. She sighed and smiled. “I will tease him later…Rogue…do not tell him for now.” She said, her trembling hand rising to clasp Rogue’s. “This is…bad enough for him…”

It took less time than she wanted, and when Aurora’s light was gone, Anna Marie knew that she would have traded everything for another moment of living in a world with her friend. Everything suddenly got colder, smaller, and greyer even though she knew that she would have her friend with her for the rest of her life. It was still true, though. And it would always be this way.

It was nothing compared to Jean-Paul’s reaction. Dr. Reyes was eventually called to bring a sedative – several – to bring Jean-Paul indoors. He was barely conscious, but he babbled in French in a voice barely above a whisper.  
Rogue witnessed the entire ordeal from the very front row. In fact, she had ended up as a feature player. Jean-Paul was unhinged, the moment he saw his sister’s body next to her. The first of it was in stunned grief to see his twin gone, but as the initial shock wore off, he was frantic. Demanding answers, he wanted to know who killed her, where their body was, and – 

“WHICH ONE OF YOU MOTHER-FUCKING WHORES CALLED THE FUCKING GRIM REAPER TO TAKE HER?!” The accusation was laid bare; bellowed across the barren battlefield and echoing from every shadow. Jean-Paul stalked to Anna Marie; and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her violently. “Tell me, you fucking witch,” he snarled, tears running down his face, practically slavering in his despair and rage. “Did you take her? Is she in there? Did you eat her too?!”  
Anna Marie neck whipped painfully with every shove, enough that she knew if this kept up it would snap. She couldn’t, she couldn’t let anyone know of her powers. Her hair began to rise, and she could feel the lightning Storm was summoning charging the air, but before the weather goddess could unleash anything to deter the anguished man, he instead was flung aside by an unseen force.

General Magnus descended to the ground, a few feet before the downed Rogue. His face was a thunderhead, and his eyes were nearly incandescent with rage. “You…dare…” he grated as he lifted Jean-Paul from his huddle, using metallic debris to hoist the man up. “Insolent boy; you kill her, and you lose it all for us. Do not think,” he said as he drew Jean-Paul closer. “Do not think to touch her ever again; she is not death.” He said as he flung Jean-Paul down to the ground. The young man whirled effortlessly thanks to his mutant gift, and in turn used another part of it against Magneto.

The crowd gasped in surprise, but a few cried out in shock as the General effortlessly dissipated the light blast that Northstar fired. Few knew he could manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum, but those who would be interested would now have a clue. Foolish boy.

His initial rage subsided enough that he spared the rebellious upstart an agonizing death. But as Rogue slowly got to her feet, he almost reconsidered. He extended a hand and helped her climb to her feet, but when she tried to remove her gloved hand from his, he gripped hers tighter.

“She is not death,” he repeated, loud enough for everyone to hear. Storm and Namor were paired with Bobby and Betsy, who were attempting to talk sense into the grief-stricken brother. “She is, now and always, our Legacy.”

Rogue gave a start and looked around to everyone’s carefully blank faces. She wasn’t certain about his proclamation; she had liked Rogue. It had been the name she chose. But names were powerful, and looking around, she now understood a portion of what Magnus had so cryptically explained to her. What symbols meant; what it meant to have a dream and how there was a cost to one’s soul for every step forward in that dream.  
An enraged howl erupted from Northstar’s throat, one of fury, rage, and grief. He seemed on the very edge of launching himself at them, despite Namor’s grip on him. “We all die, Jean-Paul, but our memories will live on. If you, or anyone,” Magnus said, his gaze sweeping across the battle-scarred ground. “attempts to countermand my orders; attempts to subvert my commands, a forgotten death will be too forgiving for you.” He stated, as Northstar had the first of three syringes inserted.  
Jubilation managed to jam one into a leg, while Reyes and Nikos managed the other two. He still struggled, fought, until there was nothing by spasms left. Magnus watched in implacable silence, which influenced the rest of the crowd. Only when Northstar was out of earshot, did the group begin to disassemble, a few carefully carrying their dead back to the Citadel.  
Magnus stayed there, as if enshrined as a statue, and watched impassively as the group disassembled. It was quiet now, X’s voice chiming that alert had dropped to amber, and they could return to the Citadel. Only then, as the voice went radio silent did he turn to Anna Marie and look at her. “Are you well?”  
She nodded, having long since regained her composure. However, with three new people in her mind, she was...fragile. “I should g-” before finishing, she had collapsed in a heap. He couldn’t catch her until she was nearly to the ground.  
“X; her status, now!”  
“Fatigue, General. Possibly due to experiencing the acquisition and termination of life three times before being accosted.”  
The bedside manner of X would have to be improved. Magnus collected Ro - Legacy into his arms and lifted them both into the air. He would have to make certain that she was protected from any sort of retaliation from Jean-Paul - And others, he thought to himself as they landed near the top of the Citadel. He would have X look after Anna Marie until she woke. He couldn’t allow others to see his...fondness for her. Not yet; it would alert too many, too soon. Best to make it a gradual inclusion until it seemed only natural. He would not expose her, not until he was certain that all reasonable precautions were taken.  
He could not, would not, lose her.


End file.
